Celebrating their return

Cornish choughs
Celebrating their return
Ten years ago, wild choughs
returned naturally to Cornwall
This is their story
“And mark yon bird of sable wing,
Talons and beak all red with blood;
The spirit of the long -lost king
Pass’d in that shape from Camlan ’s Flood!”
Richard Bedford
R.S. Hawker, The Wrecker 1846
The return
In 2001 the unexpected happened - choughs returned to
Cornwall. They were not re-introduced, but wild birds,
wandering Celts that found a new home and settled at
the Lizard.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
It had been nearly 30 years since the last true Cornish
chough perished, and over 50 years since they
successfully bred in Cornwall. A handful of sightings
over that period, even two choughs staying for a few
months, had raised hopes, but most people didn’t think
they would ever see them return for good. What a
difference a decade makes! Walk around the Lizard
and Land’s End peninsulas today and you will have a
good chance of seeing a Cornish chough.
A Celtic crow
From the mid 1800s habitat loss and
persecution meant choughs had started
to disappear from Cornwall and
elsewhere in the south west but they still
clung on in other Celtic countries.
This map shows where there are
choughs today (orange dots) and where
they were once found (yellow dots). You
can see what a strategic position
Cornwall and Devon hold within the
chough’s range in north west Europe.
Current breeding locations
Historic breeding locations
Arthur ’s crow
Legend also suggests that King Arthur did not die in
battle; instead his spirit was reincarnated into the
Cornish chough.
“And mark yon bird of sable wing,
Talons and beak all red with blood;
The spirit of the long -lost king
Pass’d in that shape from Camlan’s Flood!”
An lavar koth yw lavar gwir
Nevra dos mas a daves re hir
Mes den heb taves a gollas y dir.
The old saying is a true saying
Never did good come of a tongue too long
But a man without a tongue loses his land.
Collected for Edward Lhuyd circa 1700 from the Vicar of Lannyust/St Just in Penwith
^ Williams
Sian
Henry Harris’s Cornish Saints and Sinners retells some
traditional explanations for the chough’s red legs and
beak. Thus we learn variously that the chough heard
about a possible liaison at court between Jenefer (or
Guinevere) and Lancelot that ‘…made him turn red in
the beak’, he killed a potential assassin of the king
(covering his beak and legs in blood) for which his
family were knighted and, of course, he became a
vehicle for King Arthur’s soul when he died.
Paloresow kernewek
Arta Keltek a wren ni oll omglewes
Gans dehwelyans lowen a’gan balores
Hag dre ilow dasserghys a’n taves.
Once again we all feel Celtic
With the happy return of our chough
And through the reborn music of the tongue.
Pol Hodge for Maga 2011
Most modern retellings of Arthurian legend suggest he
will one day return. Alongside this story of King Arthur
and his transformation into a chough, is also the belief
that King Arthur will always be there in his spirit form to
lead the Cornish in times of need.
Richard Bedford
This extract from The Wrecker is said to mark King
Arthur’s violent end, and his link with the Cornish
chough with its iconic red beak and talons is clear.
A new generation
of Cornish choughs
A leisurely walk from Southerly Point to Kynance Cove
is an excellent way to see choughs—you will almost
always hear them first, as their distinctive “cheeow”
call echoes around the cliffs.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Richard Bedford
These two birds are the pioneers that arrived in 2001.
As founders of Cornwall’s new chough population they
have become 21st century Cornish emblems.
Just making a comeback is not
enough though. These two birds had
the hopes and expectations of
Cornishmen and women on their
shoulders (wings?). Would they,
could they, be successful? Of course
they were! By now, everyone has
surely heard that Arthur’s crow, the
Cornish chough, is back.
For 10 years this pair has been
faithful, they are hardly ever seen
more than a few feet apart. In nine
breeding seasons they have
successfully raised 36 chicks, many
of whom are now producing young
of their own at other sites in
Cornwall. By now, in 2011, they
must be at least 12 years old, and
they may breed until they are 16
or older.
The male chough has had his fair
share of narrow escapes. In 2007
he seriously injured his leg protecting
his newly fledged family from a
herring gull (who was protecting its
chick). For days he could not walk
on his injured leg but, with chicks to
feed, he struggled on and eventually
it healed, albeit with a definite ‘kink’.
A chough’s year
March
Building a nest (or renovating
last year’s with a few twigs of
sea carrot).
High
summer
Juveniles perfect their
flying moves and escape
the parents.
April
Female lays eggs and sits
tight for 21 days. Male feeds
female at nest.
Autumn
and
winter
May
Both adults busy making
foraging trips to find food for
hungry mouths.
Exploring the coast to
find good places to feed,
places to revisit for many
years to come if they are
lucky enough to survive.
Early
June
Chicks make their first
appearance, spending a
week or so ‘bouldering’ as
they gain confidence to fly.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
The Lizard pair
2006 - a second pair!
Choughs only breed once each year. Two to five eggs
are laid. This Cornish nest is crammed with five
chicks, approximately four weeks old.
John Eastman
Tony Cross
This female on the left in the photo
above was almost certainly the
third bird that arrived in 2001. She
was known as ’the gooseberry’
because she hung around with the
Lizard pair. An older, experienced
bird, she often flocked with the
young choughs and in 2006
paired with the colour ringed bird
you can see (a bird from the 2004
brood). This partnership was
successful and they raised young in
2006 and 2007, a total of nine
chicks. Some of their offspring have
continued the population recovery
by forming pairs of their own.
Miner birds
“It ’s exciting seeing choughs fly
overhead so close -it always lifts
your spirits.”
A tin miner, a fisherman and a chough all featured
on Cornwall County Council’s coat of arms (only
the chough remains on the new Cornwall Council’s
coat of arms). All three are shadows of their former
glory in the Duchy, but the chough is now back
where it belongs. Its resurgence gives the Cornish
people renewed hope for the future and a living
symbol with which to identify.
Lindsey Butterfield,
National Trust Ranger,
west Cornwall.
Fishermen are often the first to spot choughs when
they arrive in new places. Mark Williams and
others who fish out of Cadgwith often see choughs
as they pull up their pots.
The Crowns, Botallack, often
used by roosting choughs.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Two of the nest sites used by choughs, and many
of their roost sites too, are in old mine workings.
Adits and shafts hewn out of rock to extract tin and
copper make great artificial caves.
St Piran bling
How do we know so much about the choughs in Cornwall?
Every nesting attempt each pair makes is well watched. By
noting the behaviour of parent birds we can tell when eggs
have been laid and hatched. When observations show that
chicks are about three weeks old, Tony Cross, a specially
licensed ringer and chough expert, comes to Cornwall from
Wales. So far he has been able to ring all 55 chicks fledged
in Cornwall.
Each youngster is fitted with a unique combination of colour
rings so that it can be identified throughout its life. This is
how we learn about their everyday lives, which birds are
surviving, who pairs with whom, how far they go, and a
whole lot more.
Matt Sallis
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Since 2008 Cornish choughs have been fitted with one
black and white striped ring as well as two other coloured
rings on their other leg. Black and white are the colours of
the cross of St Piran (the Cornish flag) very appropriate!
How far do the
choughs travel?
In 2008, a pair of choughs was spotted doing what
choughs do naturally in spring time... Close inspection
of the colour rings of the two birds revealed that they
were in fact both male. In the bird world it’s not unusual
for young birds to practise before they reach maturity,
but these two have formed a very strong bond. They are
still together even though they often join a mixed-sex
flock in winter with the opportunity to find a new mate.
We know choughs can travel long distances and cross
seas (the birds that arrived in Cornwall would have had
to fly at least 100 miles from Brittany, and further if they
were from Wales or Ireland). From colour ringing we
know that one young bird born at Southerly Point in
2010, although sadly found dead, had travelled as far
as Portwrinkle on the south coast of Cornwall. Other
choughs have been spotted near St Ives and Polzeath.
How do you sex a chough? When they are being
ringed, the wing, leg and weight measurements for
females are generally smaller than those for males.
Once adult, females are usually smaller with shorter
bills; this is noticeable in the field if you see male and
female side by side.
This newly fledged female raised on the Lizard, now two
years old, has a territory near Land’s End.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Martin Lenney
Has ringing revealed
anything surprising?
Know your crows
red bill and feet of the chough make it quite
unlike any other member of the crow family.
Julian Hodgson
A chough could easily be overlooked since its
more familiar relatives are very common. In
fact, the word chough was previously used in
Cornwall for jackdaws too. The two species
share an affinity for coastal slopes and cliff
ledges, but look more closely and the striking
Other corvids include rooks, crows, jackdaws,
magpies and jays; all very intelligent and
resourceful birds.
Broad, `squarish’ wings with deeply `fingered’ tips and a
light and bouncy flight are characteristic of this agile crow.
Sometimes they seem to fly right through crashing waves,
showing a mastery of the air no other crow has. When
feeding they do not stand as upright as a crow. And of
course they have bright red legs and bill (youngsters have
orangey-brown legs and bill).
Massive (bigger than a buzzard) all-black bird — look out
for its diamond-shaped tail, shaggy neck, large bill and low,
croaking call. Breeds on cliff ledges and builds a large nest
of sticks.
Palores,
Another all-black bird frequently seen along the coast, larger
than a chough. Not sociable like choughs. With its powerful,
chunky black beak, the carrion crow in silhouette looks very
different from a chough.
Colin Scott
Rook
Similar size to carrion crows, but more often seen in flocks
and usually found on farmland. Rooks strut, have `trousers’
and a high forehead with a striking greyish white base (no
feathers) to their bill.
Bob Sharples
Nick Upton
(rspb-images.com)
Carrion crow
Andy Hay
(rspb-images.com)
Jackdaw
Perky and always busy, jackdaws have piercing, beady pale
blue eyes and heads of silvery grey feathers. Their ‘Jack’,
‘Jack’, ‘Jack’ calls echo around cliffs and old buildings and
they frequently come close to people. Jackdaws live in loose
colonies and are smaller than choughs.
^ Williams
Sian
Chris Gomersall
(rspb-images.com)
Chough
Raven
meaning digger, is the old Cornish name for chough. Other
names for the chough in Cornwall are Killegrew, chaw, and
culyek crow (gore cock, another allusion to its red bill
and legs).
Elsewhere they were (and are) variously known as chofe
(Devon), bran Gernyw and bran goesgoch (Wales), and
Cornwall kae (Scotland).
Choughs were often kept as pets and in the 15th and 16th
centuries they had quite a reputation. Their mischief included
filching money and small objects and stealing lighted
candles and embers, which they then dropped onto thatched
roofs. The chough’s scientific name, Pyrrhocorax
pyrrhocorax, comes from Greek/Latin meaning fire crow or
fire raven, undoubtedly a reference to their reputation as
pyromaniacs and that flaming crimson bill.
People power
Watching you
watching them
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Over the last 10 years a weather-hardy gang
of more than 100 volunteers has spent
thousands of hours watching and monitoring
the choughs at all their nest sites. Round-theclock surveillance for these lucky birds has
increased their chances of survival and united
a diverse group of people in enthusiasm
for choughs.
With their individual characteristics and antics,
the birds keep volunteers enthralled and
entertained, as do the occasional sightings of
dolphins, basking sharks and seabirds. You
don't have to be Cornish or a birdwatcher to
do your bit for choughs, you just need a good
set of waterproofs and a flask of tea!
RSPB Investigations Officer with seized egg collection
A pair in west Cornwall near St Just has so far
raised nine chicks. David (pictured) and a
group of 30 other volunteers help protect
their nest.
“Whenever I’m watching our choughs I still get
a shiver up my spine. It’s almost as if I’m
witnessing an impossibility, as if I’m just out for
a walk and spot a dodo, or the beast of
Bodmin Moor, or a Tasmanian tiger. But this
morning is particularly special, because the
choughs have only just got up, and we’ve
been keeping them safe all night, and we’re
the only ones in the world who can see them
right now. It’s intimate. Of course, the birds
are just going about their daily business of
survival. For them every day is life and death.
But I like to think they’re saying: Thanks mate.”
Pete Cross, author and volunteer
Criminals beware
Sadly there is an extra level of threat facing
choughs as there are still people who collect
wild birds’ eggs. This has been illegal since
1954 but nests still have to be protected 24
hours a day when the female is sitting on her
eggs. Egg thieves are prosecuted every year in
the UK and vigilance is still necessary for
Cornwall’s birds.
Tread gently
The coast is a busy place, not just for wildlife
but for people too. We all appreciate
somewhere to escape and have fun, but need
to be careful that our activities do not
adversely affect the daily lives of the creatures
for whom the coast is home. A photo of a
chough is a lovely souvenir, but get too close
and you may disturb the bird from feeding.
And take care to watch for choughs when
letting your dog off the lead.
David Mann on dusk watch
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
The natural world is an uncompromising place
for wildlife and this is especially so for
choughs in Cornwall, where their first tentative
steps towards natural re-colonisation still hang
in the balance. Natural predators such as the
peregrine can take an unwary adult chough,
and young chicks are vulnerable as their
curiosity and lack of experience bring them
into contact with ravens, gulls, foxes and all
manner of other dangers. As is normal and
expected for all wild birds, not all the chicks
fledged so far have survived.
What’s their story?
The people here and many more
have volunteered over the last 10
years to help choughs in so many
different ways.
Thanks to those that have given
time, goods, tea, shelter, support,
money, skills and more; their
choughs are faring well.
“I m’ glad that choughs have returned to
Cornwall and to where
I live, that s’ why I m
’ involved.”
Andrew Trezise
“April to June means not only being in
the team protecting the choughs, but also
sharing my knowledge of them with
inquisitive visitors on the coast path.”
"Ten years later, still walking the cliffs and that wonderful call and bouncing
flight still thrill me every time. What a
privilege to share their home!"
Alix Lord
“There is no greater pleasure than watching
the adult pair overseeing their fledglings
emerge into the big wide world.”
Nigel Kemp (pictured)
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
John Lancaster
Chuffed to help
It ’s not just conservationists and
volunteers who have done their bit for
Cornish choughs over the last 10 years,
farmers have too.
What are farmers doing?
Why are cattle crucial?
Cattle are choughs’ best friends. Choughs eat
invertebrates and find them by probing with their beaks,
so they need access to the soil surface. Cattle graze in a
way that opens up vegetation, making it easier for
choughs to catch beetles scuttling along the ground and
find juicy cranefly larvae just under the soil surface and
caterpillars hiding in shorter clumps of grasses
and heather.
Cattle dung harbours lots of grubs - perfect food for a
chatter of hungry choughs.
Farmers like Will Bowman, Robert Trezise
and Vivian Penrose (pictured) have an
important role in ensuring that the fields
where choughs like to feed on their farms
are in tip-top condition.
Thanks to farmers and their enthusiasm for
helping these birds, there are now more
chough-friendly feeding areas around the
Cornish coast.
Tony Blunden
For some farmers this means taking on the
extra responsibility of restoring habitat along
the cliff slopes. Tackling excess bracken,
gorse and blackthorn to bring back a
mosaic of shorter, more open vegetation
means a greater variety of plants and other
wildlife can thrive.
National Trust
Working together
for choughs
The RSPB, the National Trust and Natural England,
partners in the Cornwall Chough Project, work in many
different ways for choughs.
Many National Trust tenants who farm around the coast
have Environmental Stewardship agreements with
options to manage their land specifically for choughs.
National Trust staff and volunteers manage a herd of
ponies on the Lizard to help keep the vegetation just
right for many rare and colourful plants, and choughs.
Natural England’s management
for wildlife on the Lizard
National Nature Reserve means
grazing cattle and ponies are
now a familiar sight.
Natural England has championed choughs in Cornwall.
When planning and implementing Stewardship schemes
its advisors ensure where possible that choughs are
taken into consideration.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
RSPB staff advise farmers, helping them
access Stewardship schemes so they can
manage their land with benefits for
wildlife and the historic
environment too.
“Adrian Thomas (seen here on the left with National Trust and
Natural England staff) farms near St Just and said more than 10
years ago “You’ll never get choughs back here, not in a month
of Sundays!”. But we did, with his help and that of other
farmers around The Lizard and West Penwith peninsulas.”
Peter Bowden, Natural England
A ‘must do’ in Cornwall
Finn and his winning chough biscuits
Thousands of people have made a special visit to Southerly
Point to catch a glimpse (and often be treated to a low-level
fly-past) of the Lizard pair. Choughs are now a ’must do’
along with the Eden Project, Tate St Ives and a Cornish
pasty. A close encounter with wild choughs is often the
highlight of most people’s visit – and the reason for
future trips.
Although lots of people have been directly involved since the
choughs’ return, many more have benefited from their
continuing presence. An economic study in 2004 found that
choughs brought a significant amount of income into the
local economy each year. Since then interest in the choughs
has blossomed. Look out for really lovely chough-themed
souvenirs produced by local craft makers.
“It means a lot to the National Trust s’ staff,
volunteers and tenant farmers to see their hard work
paying dividends for choughs and other wildlife.”
Rachel Holder, National Trust Ranger, the Lizard.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
The return of the chough has inspired local musicians, artists
and authors, showing there is still a place for Cornish
choughs in people’s lives despite the many changes that
have occurred since these birds last haunted the cliffs. Now
the choughs are becoming more well known, walks, talks
and other events are spreading their story further afield.
Cornish associations abroad are especially interested in the
latest chough news.
To enquire is human
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
So how do you help children to understand and bond with
birds, plants, creepy crawlies and the great outdoors? By
letting them get freshly cut hay entangled in their hair, be on
a cliff edge as dawn breaks, explore fields at night by
torchlight and scrape the odd knee - that’s how to inspire
children about science, their local patch, local culture and
wildlife. They may not grow up to be astronomers or
conservationists, but they will respect and appreciate their
natural surroundings.
What does a chough think?
Why are they black?
Do they fly at night?
Do you know?
Encouraging children to think about
these conundrums helps them start to
really understand the world and how it
works. And that understanding and
enjoyment will inspire a new generation
to look after Cornwall’s special wildlife.
Chough Club (children from St Just
Primary School pictured), started by
Therese Clemo and the RSPB, enables
children to explore, enjoy and
appreciate the natural world.
Jo Clegg
Our natural environment is a precious asset. The survival of
its wildlife is dependent on people looking out for it, not just
now, but for the long haul – and the need for care and
understanding applies especially to choughs.
Are they back for good?
Are you inspired to
go in search of choughs?
steady. They have been my life for the past
decade, long may this continue.”
Claire Mucklow,
RSPB Chough Project Manager
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
Although it’s still early days for the Cornish
choughs, we hope that with continued
assistance from everyone—volunteers,
farmers, conservation partners, local
communities and visitors—their numbers
will increase and spread around
Cornwall’s coast.
A young pair of choughs has set up
territory on the north coast of Cornwall, a
huge leap along the coast for them, and in
February 2011 an ‘incomer’ made landfall
on the Land’s End peninsula, an unringed
bird wandering in from another Celtic
country to find a home.
There have been some sightings over the
last few years of choughs along the north
Devon and Somerset coasts too, birds
known from their colour rings to be from the
Gower Peninsula in Wales. All these
developments show that wild choughs are
continuing their comeback in the south
west, crucially linking this small Cornish
population with those in Brittany, Wales
and Ireland.
With the Cornish chough now reestablished in Cornwall and successfully
breeding, there is interest worldwide in this
charismatic member of the crow family.
In winter the choughs sometimes flock
together and roam the coastline.
Feeding parties are often seen around
Kynance Cove and Land’s End.
Andy Hay (rspb-images.com)
“10 years ago we didn ’t dare hope we’d be where
we are today. The choughs’ progress is slow but
Since choughs rarely travel far inland,
the coast path is your best vantage point
and late June is the very best time as
there will be newly fledged chicks out
and about. Remember to listen for
‘cheeow cheeow’. Wings tucked in and
rollercoaster swoops and dives make
choughs the show-offs of the crow
world; and we bet they make you smile
as they tumble joyously past. If they land
close by, just sit quietly; they may settle
and come closer.
Please can you help
give Cornish choughs
a safer future:
• Volunteer your time to help with an
aspect of the Project.
• Donate money to help keep the
Project running.
• Tell people about choughs, and how
much they mean to you.
Tony Blunden
• If you see a chough, tell us when
and where.
• Join the RSPB and National Trust
to show your support.
For more information about choughs and the work of
the Cornwall Chough Project partners, please visit
our blog: www.cornishchoughs.org
And why not follow us on Twitter:
Paloresow kernewek, tre bys vykken
Cornish choughs, back home for good
This page is far too small to mention everyone
involved in helping Cornish choughs since 2001
but we would like to thank all those who have
contributed in so many ways.
@ cornishchoughs
www.rspb.org.uk
The RSPB speaks out for birds and wildlife, tackling
the problems that threaten our environment. Nature
is amazing - help us keep it that way.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a registered charity: England
and Wales no. 207076, Scotland no. SC037654.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk
The National Trust protects special places in
England, Wales and Northern Ireland, for ever,
for everyone.
The National Trust is a registered charity no. 205846.
The Cornwall Chough Project is a partnership
between the RSPB, the National Trust and
Natural England.
The RSPB’s work for choughs in Cornwall is
supported by West Cornwall’s Local Action Group.
www.naturalengland.org.uk
For people, for places, for nature.
Natural England is an independent public body whose purpose is to protect and
improve England’s natural environment and encourage people to enjoy and get
involved in their surroundings.
Written and produced by the RSPB South West Office, 2011.
With additional contributions from the Cornwall Chough Project
partners, Les Merton and Mike Tresidder.
Front cover photo: Bob Sharples